


Chime

by Liara_90



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Developing Relationship, F/M, Flirting, Heterosexuality, Innuendo, Kissing, One Shot, POV Male Character, POV Third Person, POV Zuko (Avatar), Romance, Vignette, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-12
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:14:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28026873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liara_90/pseuds/Liara_90
Summary: Zuko is working at his Uncle’s bubble tea shop when his not-quite-official girlfriend swings by between classes.Jin makes it very clear what she wants. Oh, and she orders a bubble tea, as well.
Relationships: Jin/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 54





	Chime

* * *

It was about ten to three on a Thursday, which was about as dead as it got at the Jasmine Dragon. Even a bustling university campus had its off-peak hours, which Zuko - never one to be content sitting around doing nothing - occupied by wiping down tables or mopping floors or washing windows. Not only was the Jasmine Dragon the _best_ bubble tea shop in the city, his Uncle often boasted, but it was also the _cleanest_.

Zuko had been so caught up in the cleaning that he hadn’t heard the soft singing of the chimes heralding the arrival of a new customer, nor the gentle patter of her footsteps as said customer slid up behind him. Hadn’t noticed anything, in fact, until she’d slid a hand over the seat of his jeans and gently _squeezed_.

“Hey cutie,” Jin said, whispering in the ear of her favorite bubble tea server, who was presently bent over a table in his zeal to scrub it clean.

Zuko bolted upright like he’d been shocked by a cattle prod, his brain only very-belatedly catching up to the fact that there weren’t exactly a whole lot of people lining up to touch his butt. Only one of whom happened to be a regular customer of the Jasmine Dragon.

And only one of whom didn’t care about the scar on his face and was willing to wait to learn why his nametag read ‘Lee’ instead of ‘Zuko’.

“Oh. I wasn’t expecting you,” Zuko mumbled back in reply, as his heart rate gradually slowed to its usual rhythm. “Don’t you have class?”

“Way to make a girl feel wanted,” Jin replied with a mock pout, before ruffling Zuko’s hair affectionately. “You're right, though, I have art hist in ten minutes. But you’re on my way, and I thought I’d say hi.” She clasped her hands in front of her, gazing up at him with a gentle smile.

“Oh. Well… _hi_.” Zuko straightened up, brushing some invisible crumbs off of his apron. He fidgeted awkwardly with the washcloth in his hands, radiating uncertainty. Despite his Uncle’s best coaching, he still hadn’t found a way to just _talk to her_ in a way that felt natural. “You weren’t here yesterday.”

Because yesterday was Wednesday, and Wednesdays were when Jin picked up her Hong Kong Red Bean Frappé with Vanilla Ice Cream before heading back to her dorm. Usually a few minutes before 4:30 PM, and she’d take the booth in the corner if it was open, or the table by the window if it wasn’t. Both of which Zuko always made sure to wipe down a few minutes before she arrived, picking gum off the undersides of the tables and making sure the little flower arrangements were all properly aligned with the seats.

_You were missed._ I _missed you._

(But he was never quite able to say the words.)

Jin winced softly. “I know, my discussion sesh went late, and we ended up going to the student union building for burgers.” Her hand reached out and brushed Zuko’s jaw. “I missed you, too.”

(But with Jin, he didn’t need to.)

Their first date - the date his Uncle had all but press-ganged him into going on - had been... _nice_ , actually. And so, Zuko had begrudgingly admitted, had the second. And the _third_ was the one where he’d… the one where _she’d_ -

It was the fourth one that was causing them trouble - postponed twice now on account of (1) a roommate’s medical emergency and then (2) what had been euphemistically referred to as ‘ _family drama_ ’ on Zuko’s end. He felt guilty as hell for keeping Jin in the dark about just how insane his family situation was, though she seemed to have intuited at least the gist of things. (That had not been a first date conversation, and Zuko was in no rush to figure out exactly which date number it _was_.)

“Mind if I just duck into the bathroom real quick?” Jin asked, adjusting the strap of her purse along her shoulder.

“The washrooms are for paying customers only,” Zuko replied, automatically.

A small smile crept across Jin’s lips, amusement dancing in her eyes. As if she was somehow both surprised by his answer and also expecting it entirely.

She glanced briefly at the menu; the two big blackboards covered in Iroh’s ornate chalk lettering. “I’ll have a jasmine oolong with sea salt cream, low ice and extra boba. And don’t skimp on the sugar,” Jin supplied, darting in for a quick kiss and spinning on her heel before Zuko had a chance to blink.

Zuko watched as Jin _sashayed_ (and, _no_ , there really was no other appropriate verb) her way to the bathroom, the door swinging shut behind her. And then he shook his head to clear it, and made his way back to the Jasmine Dragon’s counter.

“A jasmine oolong for her,” Zuko muttered to his uncle, not bothering to repeat the rest of Jin’s order. No doubt the old man had been eavesdropping on every word of it.

“A fine choice,” ‘Mushi’ remarked, his hands already moving. “I’m certain she will enjoy it.”

Zuko _hmmf’d_ indistinctly. Not-yet-Facebook-official-girlfriend or not, the important thing was that she wasn’t taking advantage of the Jasmine Dragon’s hospitality.

Zuko watched absent-mindedly as his Uncle went through the motions of preparing the bubble tea - scooping in the ingredients with measured ease, spooning the ideal quantity of ice cubes, making a little show out of dropping in the tapioca pearls.

“What’s taking her so long?” Zuko muttered, as Iroh began sealing the lid onto his concoction.

“There are many things in life that are best not rushed, nephew,” Iroh replied, plucking the sealed container from the machine. “Pleasant conversations, good tea…”

Jin emerged from the washroom, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she did.

“...and young love.”

Zuko missed the end of his Uncle’s sentence, of course, spellbound by Jin’s smile, struck deaf and mute by the way her fingers brushed over his hips as she made her way to the cash register.

“How much do I owe you?” Jin asked, fumbling in her purse for her wallet.

“Please, miss, consider it on the house,” answered Iroh, his smile warm as a fire.

“You’re too kind, Mushi,” Jin replied, beaming back at him as she picked up her drink.

She turned around to face Zuko, who still, somehow, hadn’t moved. “Promise me you’ll take me somewhere nice soon?” And then she did that thing with her eyelashes which Zuko _swore_ was some kind of hypnosis.

His throat tightened, but he managed to get the words out anyway. “Y-yeah. Could be fun.” He paused a moment, trying to beat down the quivering feeling in his stomach. “I miss, uh… doing stuff... with you.”

Zuko’s words seemed to hang in the air for several seconds, empty but for the tuneless humming of his uncle.

Jin smiled. “I’ll text you.”

And with that she was off, the chimes above the Jasmine Dragon whistling softly as she went.

Zuko let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

And then he wheeled around. “Uncle, you can’t keep giving her free drinks. The other customers are going to think it’s unfair.”

Iroh waved his hand dismissively. “You worry too much, nephew. And besides, what’s the point of owning the greatest bubble tea shop in the city if I can’t treat my favorite guests?”

Zuko groaned. “She’s already used like twenty of those ‘ _(1) Free Bubble Tea_ ’ coupons, which I _really_ think we need to limit to one per customer, otherwise-”

His diatribe, which Iroh had heard more than once before, was interrupted by an electronic _chime_ from Zuko’s phone. Zuko frowned. There were _very_ few people who had his number, one of whom was standing behind the counter and one of whom had just left.

Zuko looked up, but his Uncle had already turned around, busying himself with cleaning the prep area. Casting his gaze around to make sure there were no other customers, Zuko slipped the phone out of his pocket, and stole a glance at his one unread message.

_‘I can’t wait to see you again.’_ Jin had texted. _‘Outside of the jasmine dragon I mean.’_ Zuko smiled, despite himself. He wanted to write something back, but the little texting dots were still bouncing on her side of the message chain.

_‘But here’s something to think about until we can ‘do stuff’ again ;) ’_

And then an image appeared. The background of which was very recognizably the bathroom of the Jasmine Dragon, which Zuko himself had cleaned not thirty minutes ago. In the foreground was Jin, with a coy smile on her face and her eyes half-lidded, her left hand holding her phone to take the photo while her right hand was pulling up her-

Zuko sputtered, choked on his own spit, and dropped his phone, which clattered noisily against the tiled floor and added another crack to its screen. He quickly locked the phone and shoved it as deep into his pocket as he could jam it, glancing over his shoulder like he was expecting to be tackled to the ground by police at any moment.

He desperately replayed their conversation in his head. What had he said? _What had he said!?_ ‘ _Doing stuff’_? Zuko felt his chest tighten. _Surely she hadn’t thought… he’d just meant getting food or seeing a movie, not... he hadn’t even been_ thinking _about that-_

“She’s a very friendly lady, that Jin. I’m so glad that the two of you are getting along,” mused Iroh, continuing to wipe down the sealing machine. “She strikes me as a very confident woman, the kind who knows what she wants.”

Zuko pulled himself to his feet, his phone seeming to burn in his pants like a chunk of radioactive plutonium. “Y-yeah. She’s really nice.”

That was _this bathroom!_ The bathroom in the _Jasmine Dragon_! The one he cleaned about a dozen times a day and now would never, _ever_ be able to step into without thinking about that photo on his phone and-

Zuko hurried to the back of the store, and hung his apron up. “I’m going on break!” he shouted, suddenly badly in need of fresh air.

The chimes sung loudly as the door swung shut behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Full Disclaimer: I’ve had bubble tea maybe thrice in my life and had to desperately Google every single thing related to it for this fic. My apologies for any mistakes that crept through, but the AU setting was simply too good to pass up.
> 
> Slightly different from my usual fare, trying to see if I can write a fun, flirty vignette. Please let me know how I did. Zuko is just too fun to write, and Jin is almost effortlessly straightforward in acting on what she wants.


End file.
